• Question: Why do girls/women get periods?

    Asked by fatimaxxo to Kimberley, Amy, Drew, Julia, Sara on 15 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by joyxx, caitlink0406.
    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Fatimaxxo… its the body’s way of generating a new womb lining in prepartion for fertilisation and well a baby!

      A females hormones cycle, they increase and the womb lining is built up and maintained, then when the levels of hormone drop the womb lining deteriates and falls out i.e a period.

      Periods are our body’s way of keeping a fresh healthy womb lining ready to make babies!

    • Photo: Kimberley Bryon

      Kimberley Bryon answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Julia is right, women get a period because they are not pregnant. Just before your period the lining of your womb thickens as if you were to get pregnant that is where the fertilised embryo would attach. Then this lining needs to come away and this is your period. If a woman gets pregnant this womb lining needs to be maintained so that the baby can grow and the periods stop.

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Hi Fatima and Joy!

      Julia’s right! It seems pretty disgusting at the time but actually its a beautiful thing – that our bodies are capable of producing new life and providing a perfect little environment for it – awesome!! 🙂

    • Photo: Sara Imari Walker

      Sara Imari Walker answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Hi fatima and joy! Yes the ladies here are absolutely correct. Sounds gross but I agree with Amy it is really quite a beautiful thing our biology does. Interesting thing is we don’t know exactly the advantage of having a period, over just maintaining an intact uteral wall indefinitely. Seems like a lot of energy to reline our reproductive organ every month. However some argue that keeping the lining is more costly (in terms of our energy) then remaking it every month. So I don’t think we know why we get periods, but it is certainly an interesting physiological process! Great question!

Comments

  • Photo: fatimaxxo

    fatimaxxo commented on :

    why does it hurt?

    • Photo: Sara

      Sara commented on :

      Hi Fatima. My best guess it that periods are so painful because we are literally expelling the inner lining of an organ. That is a pretty traumatic process for our bodies to undergo!! On top of that we have all kinds of stuff going on with hormone fluctuations and the like so I know it can be pretty miserable sometimes =(

      Sometimes it really sucks, but it is a necessary process for us to be able to bear children.